


How The Fairy Lights Do Twinkle

by startrekkingaroundasgard



Series: 31 Days of Ficmas 2020 [13]
Category: Black Widow (Movie 2020), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: 31 Days of Ficmas, Angst, Blood, Christmas Lights, F/F, F/M, Fear of Death, Guilt, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Injury, Multi, Pain, Poison, Polyamory, Self-Sacrifice, Shock, Torture, Twisted, Unconsciousness, Vomiting, Wedding Rings, Whump
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-13
Updated: 2020-12-13
Packaged: 2021-03-11 01:35:18
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,385
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28047039
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/startrekkingaroundasgard/pseuds/startrekkingaroundasgard
Summary: Tied up with christmas lights that shock each other whenever they move, the reader, Natasha and Clint must fight the pain to free themselves from this terrible situation.BWB A1 - "Your screams are like music to my ears"
Relationships: Clint Barton/Natasha Romanov, Clint Barton/Natasha Romanov/Reader, Clint Barton/Reader, Natasha Romanov (Marvel)/Reader
Series: 31 Days of Ficmas 2020 [13]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2035468
Kudos: 46





	How The Fairy Lights Do Twinkle

Every nerve in your body was alight as a million fire ants crawled beneath your skin. The sick scent of burning flesh – _your_ burning flesh – filled your nostrils. You couldn’t taste the blood in your mouth but felt the warm, coopery liquid spill down your chin as you bit through your tongue. Tears trickled down your cheeks and mingled with the blood, dripping onto your bare thighs.

The string of Christmas lights that bound you to the chair twinkled against your bruised and battered skin. Red, then green, then yellow, then blue. The flashing was hypnotic. It lowered your mental barriers, opened your mind to even more pain than before. The pattern suddenly changed, all the multi coloured bulbs flashing at once as exposed wires sparked and charred the flesh beneath.

When the overwhelming burst of pain dropped to a series of low pulses, electrified waves that had your muscles tightening in agony, you almost cried in relief. That was short lived though as a rough hand gripped your chin and titled your limp head up. A wicked snarl crossed Wraith’s face, those empty white eyes shining with sadistic joy. Your ears rang with gut wrenching screams, yours maybe, and yet you still heard him hiss, “Not so mighty now, are you? I must say that I hope you keep struggling; your screams are music to my ears.”

“Please,” you whimpered. It was a futile attempt to make Wraith reconsider; if he had his way, your only exit from this dank and miserable cave was in a body bag. It wasn’t your life you were bargaining for, though. Your voice cracked with every word, the sounds harsh and unfamiliar to your ears. “Let them go. This is between you and me.”

Wraith pursed his lips together, projected the façade of a consideration before he slapped your cheek with such force that his bony fingers broke the skin. “I owe you nothing.”

Behind you a scream of agony shattered the almost peace of you ragged breathing and you squeezed your eyes shut, unable to do anything else to help other than tense your muscles and remain as still as possible. You’d been through worse than this, you were certain. And when it came to Clint and Natasha, you would put yourself through so much worse without a second thought.

You thought of your first date. The three of you had been on a mission in Budapest. You often drank together after a successful day but as you’d curled up on the bed together the walls you all built so high crumbled. Clint had kissed you first, and then Natasha. It wasn’t about sex, it was simply being with the people you cared for above everyone else in the world.

You remembered leaving the room to walk along with river, hand in hand. The warm lights of the city reflected in the gentle ripples of the water, the bustle of traffic little more than background noise as you talked and laughed and kissed some more. You recalled coffee ice cream, delicious despite the cool weather, and a complete freedom from finally admitting the feelings you three had harboured for so long.

It was easy to picture that beautiful night, to lose yourself in the safety of the past. All the pain and fear you were feeling now faded away. The memories of what you had, of what you had to lose, kept you strong, focused. Still.

However, Wraith had other plans. He crouched down in front of you and pulled on the coiling wires around your neck, shattering your concentration. A heat spread across the back of your neck, the exposed wires slowly but surely melting the sensitive skin, but you refused to yell out even as tears filled your eyes and your nails drew blood from your palms.

Your brave defiance merely encouraged him to go further; Wraith picked a small piece of a shattered glass bulb from around your feet and trailed the sharp edge beneath your jaw. You tensed as he pressed the corner dangerously over your pulse point, almost impressed by your resolve to remain still.

“You really would rather die to save them, wouldn’t you?”

“Yes.”

He lifted the glass point from your skin and nodded. “Then I shall grant you that chance.”

Wraith disappeared from your field of vision and you weren’t stupid enough to risk looking around to try and find him, not when each movement would harm Clint and Natasha. You couldn’t even track his steps as he phased out of state with this reality, drifting between the physical words like a ghost.

In the silence, you heard Natasha draw a sharp breath and a feeble moan, drawn from the depths of her unconsciousness, fell from her lips. On the other side, Clint drew a similar gasp and a series of shallow wheezes followed. The pathetic sounds nearly shattered your resolve but you stopped yourself from turning at the last moment, knowing that it would only cause him further pain.

A few seconds later, the air shimmered in front of you and Wraith stepped back into this plane, a needle in his hand. An instinctual response, you straightened up in your chair and demanded, “What is that?”

Waiting until Natasha’s pained screams died away, the sickening scent of burning flesh thick in your nostrils, Wraith grinned viciously as the guilt over hurting her settled uncomfortable and heavy in your stomach. He dropped the needle on the ground, small pieces of glass flying off in every direction. “I believe it is called Aqua Tofana.”

“No!”

“What can I say? If your lab techs stopped coming up with new ways to kill people, then we wouldn’t be here today, would we?” Wraith glanced at his watch. “They’ve got ten minutes before the poison kills them.”

You spat in his face, the dark blood spotting his cheek. “You bastard! You said -”

“I know exactly what I said, Agent.” He wiped the red from his face, enjoying himself far too much to be bothered by a little blood. From his inside pocket, he pulled another needle. The liquid inside was clear but had a distinct red shimmer to it. A cure. Wraith held it up to the light and threatened to drop it, if only to have you reach out and try to catch the falling needle – and shock Clint and Natasha in the process.

When their yells subsided once more, Wraith crouched down in front of you and said, “You’re so willing to die for them. Well, this is your chance.”

“I’ll do anything. Please.”

“It’s pathetic, truly. Your love for them. But I won’t give this to you.”

“Then how -” It was cruel, another level of torture that only the most sadistic of people could have conceived. You closed your eyes, unable to meet his smug smile. “You want one of them to get the cure. To break free and save themselves and to kill me in the process.”

Wraith tapped your cheek twice, condescension oozing from every pore. “You always were the smartest of your damned trio. Best convince them quickly; you’ve only got eight minutes left.”

With that, Wraith vanished. You risked a glance over your right shoulder towards Natasha, gut twisting at Clint’s cry of anguish, but the sight of the cure not ten feet from her chair was almost worth it. Steeled for what had to be done, knowing they’d forgive you but still sick with guilt over hurting the people you loved, you thrashed against the bonds until one of them stirred.

It was Natasha that came to first. She shot upright and you immediately stilled. “Nat?”

She called your name. “Are you alright?”

“Debatable. Are you?”

“Been worse. Where are we? And why the fuck are we wrapped up like Christmas decorations?” She started to fight the wires that held her down, testing their strength. “What kind of sick -”

“No time.”

You clenched your jaw so tightly that you swore your teeth began to crack. That was nothing compared to the cycling jolts of electricity that rolled up your arm. They sped up and intensified with every movement Natasha made against her own bonds. The colourful string of bulbs that curled up your arm like a snake, slowly sucking the life from your body, flickered as the electrical current spiked.

Allowing the memories of soft embraces mask the agonising shocks, you fought to keep your voice level as you delivered the instructions to Natasha. “You and Clint have been injected with Aqua Tofana. The antidote is over there. You need to get yourself free and grab it. And quick, Nat. You’ve got five minutes left. Tops.”

“Got it.”

Black swirling lines burnt themselves into your body as Natasha wriggled free of her own bondage. You gripped the chair so tightly that it creaked beneath the force but nowhere near enough to allow you the freedom to escape. Tears streamed down your face as you literally bit through your tongue to hold back your own howls of pain.

The cold sweat on your skin only increased the potency of each shock and it wasn’t long before you lost complete feeling in your legs. It was almost a blessing. You might have been worried about the severe discolouring of your skin but seeing how you weren’t going to make it out of this cave it suddenly didn’t seem so important.

“What’s so funny?”

You looked up from the crack in the floor which you might have actually willed into existence by staring at the spot so intently and immediately regretted the decision as Clint writhed in his chair. Natasha yelped at the sudden burst of electricity through her bonds but thankfully didn’t make the connection.

“I, uh…” You fumbled for a plausible reason to laugh in this awful situation and came up blank. In truth, you hadn’t realised you were even laughing yourself but you supposed that acceptance of one’s death presented itself in many ways. “Will you talk to me? Tell me a secret or – anything, doesn’t matter what.”

“Little busy, lover.” The warmth, and dare you say amusement, in her voice filled your chest with affection so pure that it hurt. That she could be so strong even in such dire situations was just one of the many reasons you loved Natasha.

“Please. I can’t -” The twisted wires around your ankle burst with the sudden spike of electricity and the small glass pieces embedded themselves into your flesh. Blood trickled from the wounds, pooled warm and sticky beneath your feet. “Nat, please.”

For the first time since starting her escape, Natasha looked over to you in more than a cursory glance. Her eyes widened at the true state of your injuries and guilt, such an ugly emotion on her, wrecked her expression. “What -”

“The antidote, Tasha. Don’t worry about me.”

She held your gaze for a long moment before returning to the task at hand. She slipped her fingers beneath the chain of bastardised fairy lights that bound her to the chair and yanked at the knots. The jolts that followed felt more like a thousand tiny needles pricking your skin than excruciating blades tearing through your muscles. You couldn’t decide whether it was down to you being numb to the pain or Natasha moving more delicately now that she understood the situation.

Unable to risk her wasting time on the latter, you ordered, “Quick movements, Nat. It’s easier to manage the pain like that.”

It was a terrible lie but Natasha did as you said, most likely aware of the ticking clock over her life. The next shock was so intense that your entire body convulsed and you threw up into your lap, blood and bile pooling on your thighs. You wretched at the acidic scent but Natasha’s soothing voice distracted you.

“I got us rings.” Shock of a different kind consumed you. “We don’t have to do the whole marriage thing – in fact, I think I would prefer we didn’t - but I just wanted you and Clint to know how I felt.”

Almost sad that she believed you and Clint didn’t know how much you meant to each other, you breathed, “We already know, Tasha.”

“Maybe it was more selfish then,” she laughed, strained and humourless given the situation. “Maybe I want everyone else to know you are both taken. Might finally stop Mindy in accounts from flirting with you.”

“She’s not flirting,” you countered, a high pitched groan escaping your lips. You swallowed back the second wave of nausea and focused on the ragged rise and fall of your chest. Your heart was racing in your chest, pounding horrendously loud in your ears, but you could almost picture yourself back at home by the fire, raking your fingers through Clint’s hair as Natasha snuggled against your side. “She’s just being friendly.”

Despite everything, you still found yourself smiling as you imagined Natasha’s raised eyebrow. “No one is that friendly. Hold on now, lover. Only one more string to go. On three.”

You braced yourself for the final jolt but it did little to prepare you for the pain. You doubled over, throat impossibly tight as you fought to draw in a single breath. Natasha, in an equally terrible state, stumbled towards the antidote and injected herself, then repeated the procedure with Clint.

She then ran to you, fell to her knees at your side. Her rough fingertips brushed across your bruised jaw, even the lightest touch enough to ignite a burning pain. “I’m going to get you out of this.”

“No. Save Clint first.”

“You won’t survive another round of shocks.”

As she spoke, Clint rolled into consciousness. His immediate response was to strain against the lights that constricted his chest and Natasha was on her feet instantly. She skid across the floor to where he was bound and grabbed his face between her bleeding hands, held him still and explained the situation.

By the time she returned to you, shadows had fallen across your vision and you could hardly keep your eyes open. You leaned into Natasha’s warm touch, the last thing you remembered her quiet promise to get you somewhere safe before the bright flashing Christmas lights that bound you were swallowed by the darkness and you drifted into nothingness.


End file.
